Hoodwinked
by Yankee01754
Summary: Slim's chance to tell of the events of The Confederate Express plus a little bit added wherein Firth, the hotel manager, gets an earful from a certain little lady over the way he treated her boys. Many thanks to Polly for her suggestions and encouragement.


Hoodwinked

By Yankee01754

Where the devil is Jess? He was supposed to meet me twenty minutes ago. Maybe he went back to the room we've taken for the day.

He's not here. Matt says he hasn't seen him since we left together. Matt's opened the door - he kept it locked like we told him to. He hasn't seen the Kerrigans either. I guess that's a good thing.

What's he saying about the bank? Oh, yeah, it opens up pretty soon so the Kerrigans' time is running out. Huh? Never mind. It's not important. The important thing is figuring out where Jess is at

"Seems to me if there'd been any shooting, we'd have heard it." Grundy's trying to reassure me about Jess.

It's not working. It's almost an hour already. I don't like it.

Now what? Somebody's pounding on the door. It's Firth - the hotel manager. He's a very annoying little man. And prissy. Some day...

I ask him what he wants He wants to know what's going on. I tell him that we'll all be out of here soon and all he can say is that the sheriff will hear about it. Shooting and jeopardizing the other guests. Like Mort's gonna believe that we'd do that. Somebody - one of the Kerrigans - took a shot at Matt when he was standing near the window. Our local sheriff knows us well enough to know that Firth complains about everything. He won't pay any attention.

Firth is frightened. Matt pulled his gun on him and is asking him what he wants.

I tell him that Grundy's a friend visiting me in my hotel room which I paid for. Makes no difference to that little pain in the...if I said what I really think Daisy will have my head. She always knows what we're up to - sometimes before we even do anything.

Anyway Firth is whining about trouble. He's refunding my money and I'm to take Grundy and my other friend and get out of here.

Jess! Firth says he's outside. "Whatever the trouble is, it's fallen on his head."

As I start for the lobby Firth's voice stops me. "Not that way - the side alley entrance. I certainly couldn't let him go through the lobby."

I swear that man is going to pay for his attitude and actions.

When I open the door there's Jess, barely conscious and unable to stand. Lon Kingsbury is supporting him. According to what Lon is telling me some kids found Jess. His son and a friend - the Hollister boy. He was in a warehouse - practically unconscious and unable to speak. The two boys took one look at Jess's face and ran for Lon who was at the Saddle Shop.

I reach out for Jess with a nod of thanks to Lon saying "I'll take him". I put Jess' left arm around around my shoulders and start back to our room.

Matt's standing the doorway, thank goodness. He's got the door wide open as I half carry Jess into the room and lower him to the bed.

"You're gonna be all right, Jess" I tell my best friend. He's so pale though. And his got bruises all over his face. Looks like his teeth have cut his bottom lip some too.

Jess is mumbling something about someone being a killer. He doesn't make any sense. I've told him to take it easy but now he's talking about some bank - in Sheridan I think. He's so weak he can hardly talk above a whisper. The beating he took - it must have been the Kerrigans. Jess can handle himself pretty well in any kind of an even fight - I told Mort that about a year ago when those bounty hunters were in town. But three against one isn't exactly even no matter how much of a scrapper Jess is.

He's trying to sit up but I'm not going to let him. Not until the doc gets here and looks him over.

"Killed a man."

Now what in the world is he talking about. Matt says Jess is out of his head - that he took a mean beating.

Matt's suggesting I go find some smelling salts and try to hurry the doctor along. It sounds like a good idea so that's what I'm going to do. After what Matt has done for us over the last twenty-four hours - saving Jess from serious injury if not death - when the jack under the stage we were working on gave out - I think I can trust him to look out for Jess while I'm gone.

He's really concerned about us. He doesn't want me to go after the Kerrigans alone but I'm mad enough to take on all three of them single handed and wipe up the ground with them!

While Matt and I talk, Doc's checking Jess over.

Doc just said he's pretty sure there's no concussion but if that's true then why did Jess go under all of a sudden like Matt says? I'm getting beyond worried - I'm scared. I've seldom see Jess so pale and still. Even when he's been shot or in a fight he's usually wide awake and ready to fight. He hates being an invalid.

Doc says he's going to go to his office for something and he'll be back in a few minutes. Don't know what that's all about.

Grundy's blaming himself for what happened to Jess. I told him nothing matters as long as Jess is all right. Now he's leaving the room. I'm afraid he's going after the Kerrigans on his own but he says he's just going to see if Mort is back.

Doc's back and he's got a syringe and some drug with him. He says it's called digitalin and he's giving it to Jess. When I ask him about the possibility of Jess being drugged he tells me it looks like it. Something about it showing in his lips and the pupils of his eyes.

Where in the world would the Kerrigans get something like that I wonder? When I ask him about it Doc says that a lot of fellows got hooked on laudanum and such during the war and it's not all that hard to get hold of.

He gave the digitalin to Jess and now we wait. Even if it works, he says, Jess won't be able to do more than talk some. Jess won't be happy about that but what can we do? Between the beating and whatever the Kerrigans gave him he's pretty sick. Wish I could bring him home to Daisy. He behaves himself best with her. He ignores any and all doctors - and me - when we try to get him to take it easy.

Doc has applied a cool, damp compress to Jess' forehead and cheek. It seems to be helping. Jess has moaned and he's starting to stir.

Doc says he'll be all right now and I can go look for my friend - Grundy. I want to be sure Jess is okay before I leave and I'm being told he'll be just fine.

I've gotten as far as the door but I hear Jess calling me. Not sure if he knows I'm here or he's just hoping.

As I approach the bed I gently move Doc aside so I can sit on the bed next to Jess. Putting my hat down, I sit and put my hand on Jess' shoulder.

"Say, you gave us a scare, pard."

Jess seems to be asking for Grundy so I tell him, "Now, Grundy's alright. He went down to see if Mort got back yet. Now you rest easy. Doc says you're gonna be okay.

That didn't help. He's still talking about Grundy. What could be bothering him?

"It was Grundy."

"What was Grundy?" I ask him.

He's saying something like Kiatokia.

What, Jess?

He's mumbling something about Cheyenne huntin' stuff. That's the stuff Grundy has in his war bag that Mike was so curious about.

"What about it?" I ask.

Jess tells me the Kerrigans were right.

"Right about what, Jess?"

Jess is telling me that Grundy's going to rob the bank.

Looks like he's passed out - or fallen asleep. His words have me rushing out the door. If what Jess believes is right I've got to stop Grundy before anybody else gets hurt.

Great, Another arm wound. At least I was able to warn the Kerrigans about Grundy's grenade. They're a little shaken up but otherwise they're ok.

Doc's bandaging my arm. I'm fuming. We believed Grundy! He saved Jess from the falling stagecoach. Mike thought he was great and even Daisy took to him. How could he have fooled all of us? Jess and me especially. Jess has such a suspicious nature when it comes to strangers sometimes. Grundy convinced him he was innocent.

"What makes you so sure he'll go to his wife's place?" Doc asks.

"I'm not all that sure," I say, "but it's the only place I can think of."

Jess speaks weakly, "Slim, wait for Mort, will you, please?"

That's something I won't do. It might be too late.

Doc wants me to take some men with me but I won't do that. If I'm wrong I don't want Mrs. Grundy mixed up in all this. She's been spending all these years living him down. I don't want the whole town to know.

The Kerrigans couldn't take him and there were three of them Jess reminds me.

All I say to that is, "Then wish me luck, pard."

***********************************************************************************  
When I get to Mrs. Grundy's place he's already gone. A little further on I catch up with him. He's taken shelter in an abandoned mine.

He's thrown some dynamite at me. Reflexively I pick it up and throw it back at him. He's unable to escape the damage from the blast and lies dying at my feet. He tells me to get his war bag and I find a wanted poster on him from Cheyenne. He wants me to give the money to his wife and dies saying it's ironic that he's worth more dead than alive.

I go back to the hotel and find Jess resting while Doc keeps an eye on him. Doc's making us both stay in town overnight. If he thinks Jess is fit to travel we can go home tomorrow. Good thing the stage hasn't come in yet. I can write a note to Daisy so she won't worry about us. I hope anyway. Good thing Ben's around this week to look after the teams. Mose'll be more than happy to deliver the note for us. It means a chance for a piece of one of Daisy's pies.

Dad blamed Doc is making me keep my arm in a sling for a few days. I told him it wasn't that bad but he knows I brought Grundy's body into town for burial. He thinks I aggravated it lifting the body. Jess is laughing at me. I know he is. I'm always getting on him about obeying doctor's orders and now I'm the one trying to ignore them.

Home. Mike and Daisy are waiting to welcome us back with open arms.

Walking into the house the aroma of fresh bread, coffee and raspberry pie greets us.

Eagerly we sit at the table but not for long. Daisy's motherly, nursing side has come to the forefront and Jess is being herded off to bed. He's going, reluctantly, but Daisy is promising to bring him pie and coffee once he's settled.

Getting the whole story out of me, about our adventure, has her going after Firth loaded for bear.

Laramie: mid-morning.

Daisy sure is letting Firth have it! I laugh to myself as I watch our surrogate mother tear into that mousy, annoying little pain in the rear end hotel manager.

"How _dare_ you make an injured man come in through the side alley entrance just so he won't be seen in the lobby! Jess could have been dying and in desperate need of medical help but you took it upon yourself to 'protect' your other guests by making him go the long way around! Your hotel's image would be better for keeping up appearances of truly caring for your guests - _all_ of them!"

Daisy never raises her voice but, boy is she giving it to Firth. It's a great show! I had thought that Jess or I should have a talk with him but he's never, _ever_ going to live down the tongue lashing she's giving him.

Jess is going to love this story. Especially when I tell him how meekly Firth took it. He never got more than two words out. The other guests enjoyed it and I swear I saw Mort Corey just outside the door listening to it and laughing. He doesn't like Firth any more than we do.

Home again. It's late afternoon and the stage is due in soon from Cheyenne en route to Laramie. Seeing as Jess is confined to bed (I'll have to ask Mike how he managed to keep Jess there. I mean the boy's only nine. Jess is a lot bigger than he is. Should be an interesting tale.) and I'm stuck with my arm in a sling, Ben's going to have to manage the hitching and unhitching. At least I can lead the teams to the stage and back them into the traces.

Stage is gone. Ben's tending to the tired team. Daisy says supper should be ready in about an hour. I think I'll go sit with Jess until it's on the table.


End file.
